|
CPJ Update
February 15, 2005 News from the Committee to Protect Journalists |
|
Meeting with Yemeni ambassador highlights case of imprisoned journalist On February 8, a CPJ delegation met with Yemen’s ambassador to the United States, Abdulwahab Abdulla al-Hajjri, to express deep concern about the imprisonment of a Yemeni opposition newspaper editor and a recent spate of criminal convictions handed down against several other journalists. Criminal convictions against journalists in Yemen have continued despite President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s pledge in 2004 to work toward eliminating prison sentences for press offenses. CPJ Executive Director Ann Cooper attended the meeting with board members Clarence Page and Gene Roberts, Middle East Program Coordinator Joel Campagna, and CPJ Washington, D.C., Representative Frank Smyth. Al-Hajjri agreed to pass on CPJ’s concerns to his government and said the al-Khaiwani case “will be looked at with a lot of care. … Hopefully, we’ll see good results soon.” To read more, please click here: http://www.cpj.org/news/2005/Yemen08feb05na.html To learn more about the cases against journalists in Yemen, please click here: The king also imposed a six-month ban on critical reporting on government activities. The government posted soldiers at Nepal’s major print and broadcast outlets, controlled television broadcasts, and vetted news articles, according to CPJ sources and international news reports. A few days later, security forces arrested prominent social critic and columnist Khagendra Sangraula and sought to arrest Tara Nath Dahal, president of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists, who went into in hiding. Shrestha agreed to pass on CPJ’s concerns to his government. Deputy director Joel Simon and Smyth attended . To read more about the media crackdown in Nepal, please click here: http://www.cpj.org/news/2005/Nepal03feb05na.html Imprisoned journalists This year’s list includes U.S. journalist Jim Taricani, a reporter for WJAR-TV in Providence, R.I., who is serving six months of home confinement for refusing to reveal who leaked a government surveillance tape to him during a municipal corruption probe. At least two other U.S. journalists–Matthew Cooper of Time and Judith Miller of The New York Times–now face possible federal prison terms. To read more about our survey, please click here: With an introduction by CPJ Executive Director Ann Cooper and a preface by former NBC News anchor and current CPJ board member Tom Brokaw, Attacks on the Press in 2004 recounts journalism’s deadliest year in a decade and documents hundreds of cases of media repression in 90 countries, including murders, assaults, imprisonment, censorship, and legal harassment. Rizvi was featured on the cover of the fall/winter issue of CPJ’s biannual magazine, Dangerous Assignments. To read the magazine, please click here: |
Russia section online
For the sixth consecutive year, China was the leading jailer of journalists, with 42 imprisoned at year’s end. Cuba ranked second with 23 reporters, writers, and editors behind bars, while Eritrea remained Africa’s leading jailer of journalists with 17 in prison, many of whom are being held incommunicado in unknown locations. In Burma, 11 journalists were behind bars in reprisal for their work at year’s end, including CPJ’s 2004 International Press Freedom awardees Aung Pwint and Nyein Thit.
CPJ to release Attacks on the Press in 2004